This Upper East Side Grandmother Is Walking Every Block In Manhattan

CENTRAL PARK, NY — Upper East Sider Marilyn Menick, 76, is on a mission to walk every block in Manhattan.

Menick, a fitness instructor who grew up in Astoria and now lives on the Upper East Side, came up with the idea to walk every block in the borough back in 2023 and has been chipping away at her goal ever since, working up the island, neighborhood by neighborhood.

This weekend, she's leading two group walks — with 275 people signed up so far — totaling 15 miles covering iconic locations like Central Park, Harlem and Roosevelt Island, which is technically a part of Manhattan.

This way, she'll be able to make progress on her goal while inspiring women like her to put on their walking shoes, too.

"Walking is my passion," Menick said. "I find it therapeutic. It keeps me in shape. But especially, walking in Manhattan, it brings me so much pleasure."

So far, Menick estimates she's walked around 70 percent of Manhattan, and is now working her way uptown. She said this Saturday's walk will pass by many iconic sites, including the Apollo Theater and the General Grant National Memorial.

To make sure she's hitting every block, Menick plans out each of her walks on a paper map of the city, which is a rarity these days, she said.

"I'm always standing on a corner and looking at my map. I look like a tourist," Menick told Patch. "So many people stop me to ask if I need help — if people think New Yorkers aren't friendly, they're so wrong."

As expected, on her walks, she's seen the full range of New York experiences, taken lots of skyline photos, and once even helped break up a fistfight between teens.

One of her favorite memories, she said, was when she connected with a woman downtown while resting during a long walk.

"I was very tired that day and stopped at a bench downtown when this homeless woman came up to me and asked if I was OK, and I told her I was, and explained what I was doing," Menick said.

Then the woman went into her tent nearby and came back out with a banana for her.

"She told me, 'You need potassium.' I was so touched."

A couple of days later, Menick said she returned to the area to find the woman and bring her some money, but the woman's tent wasn't in her usual spot, it was several blocks away.

"When I found her, I said, 'You moved!' and she said, 'Marilyn, you inspired me to start going on walks!' It really made me feel like I accomplished something. It was so New York," Menick said.

Menick, a mother of two and grandmother to four, found her fitness career later in life, after more than 25 years of opening daycare centers around the city, she said.

Once she sold her daycare company, she became a personal trainer and opened a fitness studio, which she ran in person until the pandemic, when she started training her clients over Zoom. She still regularly trains around 20 New Yorkers this way, she said.

This weekend's outings are hosted by Menick and EverWalk, a nonprofit walking dedicated to inspiring people of all ages to embrace an active lifestyle through walking.

This weekend's outings are open to walkers of all levels and participants will have the unique opportunity to walk alongside Menick as well as EverWalk co-founders Diana Nyad, a world-class swimmer and endurance athlete, and her coach, Bonnie Stoll. Register here.

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